Wildfires

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is warning customers to prepare for possible power outages due to Santa Ana winds that are expected to blow in Friday. “During high wind events, reports of power outages may increase due to downed lines from tree branches and other flying debris,” the utility said in a statement. The Santa Ana winds expected to begin gusting Friday will blow across a Southland experiencing one of its driest years in more than a century. The National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings across Southern California, and firefighting agencies have already started positioning more resources in key areas.

Even before the embers from the Rim fire had stopped smoldering, the House of Representatives was using the catastrophic forest fire as an excuse to pass a harmful logging bill. HR 1526, the so-called Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act written by Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), would mandate that logging more than double in national forests and would require foresters to show that they had met certain timber quotas without regard for whether the forests involved were habitats for threatened species or whether they were in supposedly protected roadless areas.

Some of the West's leading fire scientists are calling for the increased use of managed burns to reduce fuel levels in the region's forests, warning that climate change is leaving them more vulnerable to large, high-severity wildfires. In a paper published Friday in the journal Science, seven fire and forest ecologists say the rate of fuel reduction and restoration treatments is far below what is needed to help sustain forest landscapes in an era of rising temperatures and increased drought.

A red flag warning is in effect across Southern California, with the National Weather Service warning that incoming Santa Ana winds are creating a serious fire hazard across the region. Forecasters expect wind gusts up to 50 mph across L.A.-area mountain ranges and desert communities and warn the wind and single-digit humidity is making Los Angeles and Ventura counties -- excluding the Antelope Valley -- vulnerable to fast-moving fires. Southern California wildfires: Full coverage Since the spring, state firefighters have been inundated with fast-moving, raging wildfires in both Southern and Northern California.

Firefighters across Southern California and other parts of the state will be pre-deploying near mountain and brush areas and staffing additional units during several days of extreme fire weather expected to begin Thursday. A red flag fire warning for strong to moderate Santa Ana winds and low relative humidity has been issued across Southern California, the National Weather Service said. The agency said temperatures will be in the 90s in inland areas and that wind gusts up to 70 mph are possible for mountains in Ventura and Los Angeles counties through Sunday.

PRESCOTT, Ariz. - Investigators found no evidence of recklessness or negligence in the battling of the Yarnell Hill wildfire that killed 19 Arizona firefighters in June, but acknowledged that the full story will never be known on the largest loss of firefighter lives since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. "To lose all 19 and have them not talk … makes it a very tough situation and a very different investigation," said Jim Karels, the leader for the Serious Accident Investigation Team.

A reward of up to $20,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for sparking two Northern California wildfires that scorched more than 37,000 acres, officials announced Thursday night. The Salmon River and Butler fires were started July 31 and raged across brush and timber in the Six Rivers and Klamath national forests, fire officials said. The reward is being offered by the U.S. Forest Service and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

A wildfire forced the evacuation of dozens of residents and threatened more than 50 structures near Mt. Diablo State Park in Contra Costa County on Sunday, fire officials said. Nearly 250 firefighters battled the blaze with air tankers and helicopters as it quickly spread to 800 acres amid high temperatures and dry conditions.It was 10% contained by Sunday evening, but crews hoped to bring it fully under control by Monday morning, said Brandon Leitzke, battalion chief for Cal Fire.

In seven weeks, California has burned through more than a quarter of its state firefighting budget of $172 million. The Rim fire in and around Yosemite alone has chewed up 15% of that budget, and the fire season is in its early days yet. Statewide, California 2013 has gotten maybe a quarter of the rainfall of California 2012. The Rim fire is the seventh largest in the state's history. The average wildfire is now five times bigger than it was 30 years ago. Get my drift?